Taming the Dragon
by NeonDomino
Summary: Harry had no intentions of becoming an Auror, but had no idea what his future held. A dinner at the Weasleys and a conversation with Charlie Weasley had Harry exploring the reserve and realising that he could see himself working there and being happy - with his best friend's older brother. Harry/Charlie, Hermione/Bill, Remus/Sirius.
1. Chapter 1

**Written for the Triwizard Challenge.**

 **Plot 4 –** Harry was tired of his life. He knew he had told McGonagall that he wanted to be an Auror, but truthfully he had only said it because it was what was expected of him. But he was so tired of it. After that awful year on the run the last thing he wanted was to hunt down Dark Wizards. Besides, he truly didn't want to work for the Ministry. Then in waltzes Charlie Weasley, with his tales of dragons, and flying, and freedom. Nothing had ever sounded better to Harry. Harry found a life in Romania that he never thought he could have, and if he fell in love with a certain red-headed dragon tamer that had enticed him to this life in the first place... well, that just made life even better.

 **Rules for this task:**

Multi-chapter is allowed.

3 chapters max.

Word minimum per chapter 2500 words, word maximum per chapter 5000 words

Bonus points awarded if it's a multi-chapter. 5 points per chapter.

1 bonus point for every 150 words over 3500 words in the multi-chapters

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 **Taming the Dragon**

 **Chapter 1 of 3**

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 **Thanks to Firefly81 and RedButterfly33 for helping with this story, and Firefly81 for betaing it. :)**

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Harry stared at the thin pamphlet in his hand. Professor McGonagall had handed it to him a few minutes before, and Harry could only stare dumbly at it.

He had forgotten that he had wanted to be an Auror before the final battle. It seemed so long ago now.

So many things had changed. No longer did Harry feel that it was his duty to keep the wizarding world safe, and he knew it wasn't what he wanted any longer. He even questioned if he really did want to do it when he was younger, or if he felt it was something he had to do.

He turned the pamphlet over in his hands, his eyes moving uninterestedly across the back, before he dropped it onto the table. He couldn't even bring himself to open it up and read what it said inside.

Harry's gaze moved to Ron, who was seated next to him, holding a copy of the same pamphlet. The expression on Ron's face was the complete opposite to how Harry imagined his own to be. Ron was flicking through his, an eager grin on his face. "This looks amazing," Ron muttered, more to himself than to Harry. He turned his head, catching Harry's eye. "We might be partners or something?"

Harry nodded, forcing a smile onto his lips. He didn't want to let Ron down, but surely he had done enough fighting to last a lifetime? He knew without a doubt that he didn't want to do this for the rest of his life, but it seemed that it was what everyone expected of him.

He had been wishing for something else to come up but didn't know what. He hoped that someone would mention a job to him, and it would just hit him that it was the perfect role.

But that didn't seem to want to happen.

His gaze moved around the Great Hall, taking in all the students that seemed to know what they wanted to do with their lives. His gaze settled on the girl in the seat facing his, who was sorting a rather large stack of pamphlets into piles.

He watched in confusion as she picked up the first pile and spread the pamphlets out, before arranging them into an order, though he wasn't sure what the order meant. She followed suit with the second and third piles, frowning as she did so.

It was only then that Hermione looked up, looking a bit embarrassed at being caught making a fuss over the leaflets.

Harry glanced down one last time at his own, before pushing it away. He wanted to be like Hermione, with too much choice, rather than just one.

Ron didn't seem to notice Harry's distracted state, too focused on the Auror career he was looking to pursue.

Harry continued to nod along to Ron's words, though he didn't hear most of what Ron was saying. His eyes were fixed on the pamphlets that Hermione had spread out across the table again. His eyes searched the names, hoping something would grab his attention.

But nothing did.

...oOo…

It was a couple of weeks before they left Hogwarts, Harry without a single clue of what to do with his life. He was quite envious of both Ron and Hermione.

Ron was set on being an Auror, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his future.

Hermione was still weighing her options. Instead of having no idea what to do with her future, the problem Hermione faced was having way too many choices. She was a skilled witch that wanted to make a difference in the wizarding world but didn't know where to start.

Harry wished it was that easy for him.

...oOo…

He sat at breakfast with Hermione, Sirius, and Remus. Hermione was eating quietly at the table, and Remus was nodding along to Sirius' ramblings.

"I don't think I want to be an Auror," Harry blurted out, looking between his Godfather and Remus. The two men looked away from each other, their gazes falling on Harry.

Hermione put down her fork. "Well, it's about time," she said. "We've been waiting for you to say that for months now. When did you realise this?"

"When McGonagall passed out the pamphlets to us," Harry said. He frowned. "We've been waiting? Who are 'we'?"

"Well, I had a feeling that you wouldn't want to fight anymore," Sirius said. "Remus agreed with that. Plus, Hermione noticed you didn't have any interest in the Auror information and were looking at the ones she had, so it wasn't hard to work it all out."

"You fought because you felt you had to," Remus said. "You didn't sign up for that and never agreed to do it for the rest of your life. You've fought the battle that was forced on you, so let the world deal with everything else. It's about time you done something for yourself. There will be other Aurors."

"Any ideas what you would like to do?" Sirius asked.

"I haven't got a clue," Harry admitted. "I've been thinking about what I could do for weeks, and there is nothing coming to mind."

"I did think you would try out for Professional Quidditch," Hermione began. "But I personally think you'd be wasted there; you're smart enough to do a lot of things. But you love flying, you keep telling me how amazing it feels."

Harry nodded his head. "It really does," he replied. "But I'm not sure that I want a career that involves spending most of my time on a broomstick."

"What about a job at the bank?" Hermione quickly offered. "I have some information on bank-tellers. They want humans because they hope to get the Goblins and Wizards and Witches -"

"Thanks, but no," Harry replied, not eager at all to hear anything about Goblins and Wizards. He knew if Hermione got started, she would be going for ages. "That sounds a bit dull to be honest."

Hermione sighed and nodded. "I have to agree with you," she replied. "Though I've kept them in my maybe pile. I mean, the chance to be one of the first witches to actually be a trusted employee in the bank, doing roles that only Goblins have done for -"

"Still sounds pretty dull Kitten," Sirius finished. "Put that big brain of yours to better use - you don't want to pick something like that and just have a mundane job that'll bore you, you need something that will challenge you."

She nodded her head. "I'm still deciding myself," she replied, reaching for her fork again.

"If I recall, you made an excellent teacher for a certain illegal club," Remus replied, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement as he turned his attention back to Harry.

Harry shook his head, looking downcast at the inevitable future of nothingness he was likely to face.

"Why don't I head upstairs after breakfast and get all my information? Maybe something there will strike your fancy?" Hermione suggested. "I have a lot of information so surely something would be good?"

"There's always travelling? Maybe you could go for a few months and relax and have a break - a holiday - and that might help you clear your head and give you an idea of what you want to do," Sirius suggested.

"I've already done enough travelling," Harry muttered, referring to the time that the trio had been on the run. "I'm not looking to do anything like that again. All I want to do is work out what to do with the rest of my life, before climbing into my nice, warm and comfortable bed each night."

"Not all travelling is sleeping in tents and scrounging for food," Hermione stated. "You could do the sort of travelling that involves comfortable hotel rooms and buffets."

"Fancy joining me?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't have time for a holiday," she replied. "Maybe once I've worked out what to do. There are so many options. I know Minerva hinted at me returning and training as a Professor, and it would be beneficial to teach a new generation, but in doing that, I could miss out on the chance to be a liaison between Wizards and other magical beasts? Or maybe a career in Wizarding law?" She stared off into space, and the three men turned away from her.

"Well, I believe the Weasleys are planning a welcome home party on Sunday," Remus stated. "We've all, of course, been invited. Arthur might be able to think of something at the Ministry that is more suited to whatever it is that you are looking for. Maybe he'll bring you to the Ministry with him one day and you can look around?"

"Yeah," Harry said, with a hint of doubt in his voice. But it wasn't like he had many other options. "Wait - welcome home? Who is coming home?"

"Bill and Charlie," Remus replied. "Charlie has some holiday from his job, and Bill's booked his own to coincide so the family can all have a couple of weeks together."

"Wait - Bill Weasley is coming back?" Clearly this piece of information was enough to break Hermione out of her dream world, and judging by the look on her face, it was enough to send her into a whole other dream.

Harry tried to hold back a snort as Remus looked slightly amused. Sirius seemed oblivious.

"How is Bill?" she asked, looking at Remus. "I saw Fleur in Diagon Alley the other day. She looked really different - her hair was cut shorter, and she was dressing completely different. She also looked like she was going to hex anyone who spoke to her."

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks, a silent debate going on between them. Harry and Hermione both forgot about what to do for their futures for a moment as they eagerly waited for some juicy gossip that Sirius looked eager to spill.

Finally Remus sighed and turned back to his food. Hermione and Harry waited for Sirius to tell them what was happening.

"Bill and Fleur's divorce has just come through," Sirius said, taking delight in the shocked looks. "Since Greyback gave Bill the scar, things have been a struggle between them."

"But that was before the wedding!" Hermione exclaimed.

Sirius nodded. "True," he replied. "And we think that she married him out of a sense of pride or something… Bill didn't really tell us that part yet. But she couldn't handle Bill's wolfish tendencies or his scars."

"They seemed close when we were there," Hermione said.

"Actually," Harry commented. "You weren't awake a lot there. Now that I think about it, I didn't see them much around each other at the time. I just thought it was the stress of the war, or because we were there or something…"

Remus shook his head. "I believe that Bill was already in the guest room at that point," he said. "The day after the final battle, the divorce application was filed."

"Another marriage during a war that seemed like a good idea at the time," Sirius commented.

Remus shook his head. "I don't believe my marriage to Dora was a mistake," he said. "I may not have loved her like I love you, but I saw a future with her, and she gave me a beautiful son."

"Speaking of Teddy, is he still at Andy's?"

Remus nodded. "Andy's still grieving hard for Ted and Dora. If having Teddy there a bit extra helps her... "

Sirius nodded.

"So… what does Molly think of all this?" Hermione asked, noting the sad expressions overcoming the men's faces.

"She is quite upset," Remus replied. "Divorces between witches and wizards are quite rare after all, but due to Bill's attack and the side-effects, the laws were easy on Fleur being able to get out of the marriage."

"That is ridiculous," Hermione said, frowning. "They shouldn't even have those laws at all. If you love someone and they get bitten or turned, you'd still love them because they are still the same person -"

"That is why I love you so much," Sirius interrupted, grinning at her. "Because you think a lot like I do. I fell in love with Remus. Do you think his Lycanthropy made the slightest bit of difference to how I felt about him? Not at all. In fact, werewolves have an increased libido, which is an amazing thing and-"

"I don't think they want to hear any more," Remus said, smiling at him. "Back to what we were saying - even though the laws make it easy, it's still unheard of for a couple to get divorced. Both parties have to agree."

Hermione's eyebrows widened. "So Bill just…"

"He was quite sure that if she wanted a divorce, he wasn't going to stop her. He would fight up until the moment she applied. He said that he didn't want to force her to stay with him if she truly didn't love him and didn't see a future with him," Remus continued.

"So, that's it - Fleur doesn't love him?" Hermione asked, her voice raising. "Just because he has a few wolfish tendencies?" Harry put a hand on her arm in hopes of calming her down.

"It's better that it happened now, rather than when children were born, or a few years in the future," Remus told her. "Bill will get his confidence back and be looking for a woman that will look past the scars."

There was a long silence around the table.

"I'm not so sure I want to work at the Ministry either," Harry admitted, his focus on his breakfast. "What about the both of you? What did you do when you left school?"

There was a short silence and he looked up again, his gaze falling on Remus.

"Well, due to my condition, it was near impossible for me to keep any sort of job for long," Remus began. "I just went from job to job, losing each one when my condition was found out. I just took what I could find before going out into the muggle world and searching there instead."

Harry's gaze moved over to his Godfather.

"Well, I just laid around a lot at first," Sirius said. "I did some order work but not much else. Moody approached me, telling me I was very quick and he wanted me to be an Auror."

"Did you become one?" Harry asked.

"I did," Sirius confirmed. "Though I had my reasons for wanting to be an Auror. I wanted to fight and make a difference. I wanted to stand up to the darker wizards… and it was an 'up yours' to my parents too. For me, it was the start of the fight and me signing up to these things… but for you, you're at the end of the fight."

"What about my dad?" Harry asked.

"Same as me," Sirius said. "He became an Auror first, and I said I'd only sign up if James could be my partner. There was a hell of a lot of training, but he agreed to it. As for your mother - she was training to be a Healer."

Harry contemplated what it would be like to be a healer, but quickly dismissed the idea. He turned back to his breakfast, hoping that he would find something soon.

...oOo…

The days passed by quickly and Sunday was upon them. The four of them got ready to go to the Burrow, taking the floo network, even though the weather was nice.

They stepped out and quickly began greeting everyone and headed outside.

Harry glanced in Ginny's direction, offering a small smile. Ginny had been clear that she wanted him back after the war had happened, even though Harry had explained to her that he had no interest in her 'that way' any more.

He had hoped that they could become friends, but the hopeful look on Ginny's face as she returned his smile showed that it was still too soon to think they could just be friends and nothing more. With a small sigh, he glanced around, spotted an empty chair by Ron and sat down.

...oOo...

As much as Harry tried to keep the conversation away from jobs and on other subjects, Ron finally turned it around, asking Harry outright if he had heard anything back about his Auror application and when did he send his in?

Harry didn't want to disappoint his best friend, knowing Ron was expecting them to both become Aurors and be partners… and as much fun as it would be to work with his best friend by his side, Harry didn't see that as a good enough reason to make him become an Auror.

He took a deep breath, realising he had no choice but to tell Ron the truth of the matter.

"I haven't applied," Harry told him. "The thing is, I've been having second thoughts about being an Auror. I don't know if it's what I want to spend my life doing. I think I've had enough of fighting, and I feel like my duty is done now."

Ron stared at him for what seemed like a long time. "You are joking, right?" he finally asked.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not joking," he confirmed. "I just feel like I've given enough and maybe now is the best time for me to find something that I really want to do, though I'm not sure what yet."

He waited, hoping that Ron would process the information calmly and accept what Harry was telling him.

"But I thought we were going to be partners?!" Ron stated, looking slightly angry. "I've been talking about this for weeks now, and you've not told me that you're not interested in this until today."

"I'm really sorry," Harry replied. The last thing he wanted was to fall out with his best friend over the matter.

...oOo…

Charlie swung the rucksack over his shoulder after putting the portkey back on the ground. He looked around at the area he had arrived in and grinned.

It was good to be back in England.

He looked over the fields that he knew would lead him home, but he wasn't going to do that yet. He quickly checked the time.

Four.

Ten minutes to go until Bill's portkey was activated. He took a few steps back so he was out of the way and dropped the rucksack down again.

He was exhausted. The Dragon Reserve had four eggs hatch in the last six months and that was a lot of baby dragons for such a small team to handle, but they had somehow managed.

It didn't leave Charlie with a lot of time to himself, but he had slowly started to realise that in his off-time, he didn't really have much to do.

The job didn't really allow much in the way of meeting new people, which is something Charlie realised that he needed.

He wanted to interact with someone outside of the friendships he had made with the other Dragon handlers. Not just a new friend, but maybe he needed something more than that?

It had been such a long time since he had someone special in his life after all, and things could get quite lonely.

His thoughts were interrupted by the quick appearance of Bill, who grinned before offering Charlie his hand, pulling him up from the ground. Once Charlie was standing in front of him, Bill hugged his younger brother tightly.

"It's good to see you," Bill stated when he had let go. "Have you been waiting here long?"

Charlie shook his head. "No," he replied. "About ten minutes now. Are you ready to go to the house?"

Bill nodded. "Can we walk?" he asked.

Charlie smiled. "Sure." Bill asking to walk down meant that Bill wanted to talk in private before they were surrounded by other redheads, and Charlie enjoyed talking to his older brother in private. Bill was his best friend after all, and the only one he was really able to confide in.

"So… how are things?" Bill began, as Charlie grabbed the rucksack for a second time, swinging it onto his shoulders.

"A bit busy," Charlie replied. "The usual really, there aren't many of us there, and it's just the same faces every day. I get a bit lonely sometimes… do you get what I mean?"

"I do," Bill said. "I think it's because we've come from a large family, that we expect there to be a lot of people around. Have you looked at getting more staff in the reserve?"

"We've had a couple of applications but have yet to find anyone suitable. A couple of the candidates were applying because they thought they would have access to rare ingredients that they could sell for profit, and another was scared of Dragons. It's ridiculous. How are you doing?"

"The divorce is final now," Bill replied, his eyes moving down to the ground. "Fleur is no longer a Weasley. I keep getting letters from mum on a daily basis to see how I'm doing or to make sure I'm okay. She turns up with food every time I return to Shell Cottage to make sure I'm eating properly."

Charlie chuckled. "What did you expect?" he asked. "I'm surprised that mum didn't turn up with food even when Fleur was there. How are you feeling about everything?"

"I'm not sure. I thought I'd be more upset when this was all final," Bill explained. "But I think I'm more relieved that this is all over now. No more arguments and disagreements. No more snide comments or Fleur with a headache because she can't stand me being near her or in her bed. I think I feel like a different person - someone who can start looking to be happy again."

"So, there's clearly no chance of you reconciling with her?" Charlie asked.

"I think the problem was that we fell for each other quickly and rushed things because of the war. Fleur shouldn't have married me after the attack - I thought she wouldn't want me, but she insisted she did. If she had just told the truth at the time, or we pushed the wedding back, this would have been different. I'm just glad that it's over now."

"Good thing you didn't have kids or anything," Charlie commented.

Bill laughed. "You have to have sex to be able to produce children," he informed his brother. "Not that you'd know much about that!"

"I happen to know a lot about it, it's just that I don't plan to ever impregnate a witch," Charlie said.

"It's a good thing that Wizards can't get pregnant, otherwise there would be many little Charlie Weasleys around."

Charlie grinned at the accusation. "Maybe in the past," Charlie said. "I've not been like that for a while. Call it lack of time or lack of enthusiasm, or maybe the urge to find something serious."

"He'd have to be someone special for you to get serious," Bill said. "It's not often you get serious with someone -"

"You're talking like I've met someone," Charlie grumbled.

Bill shrugged."I just don't want you making plans before you've even met the person, otherwise you might latch onto the next guy, thinking that he's the one for you when he's not…"

"He might be," Charlie replied. "So, enough about my failing love-life."

"And back on mine," Bill sighed. "Well, I got the forms the other day stating that I was now a single man. I didn't know what to do with myself after that. I checked over the cottage to make sure that all her stuff was gone, and felt… free."

"Still convinced that she used those Veela charms?" Charlie grinned.

"She was pretty. but not my type. Now she's gone, I can't even remember why I fell for her in the first place to be honest! Must have been the veela charms, I'm not usually one for the blondes."

"Of course you're not," Charlie muttered. They got to the top of the hill, spotting the house in the distance. "Home sweet home," he said.

Bill followed his gaze, and they stared at the lopsided house in the distance.

"I've missed this place," Charlie admitted.

They started down the hill towards their childhood home.

...oOo…

Charlie and Bill were both surprised that Molly wasn't waiting to welcome them as they walked through the door. After a peek into the living room, they headed through the empty kitchen into the dining room.

They paused in the doorway.

"But I thought we were going to be partners?! I've been talking about this for weeks now, and you've not told me that you're not interested in this until today."

"I'm really sorry," Harry replied.

"So, if I didn't bring this up now, would you have even told me, or would you have just let me turn up there alone and find out?"

"I would have told you," Harry said. "I was just waiting for a good time to bring it up."

"So - what are you going to do?" Ron asked, glaring at Harry. "What job is more important to you than working with me? I'm sure you have loads lined up, after all."

"I don't know," Harry snapped. "I just know that I've had enough of fighting. There's nothing stopping you from doing this alone."

"I can't believe -" Ron began.

"The boys are here," Molly shouted, cutting Ron off as she spotted them. "Ron, take Charlie's bag to his room please."

Her voice left no room for argument, and Charlie watched his youngest brother give a cold look in Harry's direction before getting up from the table and walking straight past Charlie and storming upstairs.

Charlie looked after Ron in concern, but from the gist of the conversation, it sounded like Ron was overreacting as usual. Charlie turned back to greet everyone, but a strong arm hooked around his neck, dragging him downwards into a hug.

"Your hair is too long," Molly stated as she clung to her son. "You should let me cut it."

Charlie grinned as his mother let go and watched as she pulled Bill into a hug. "Don't even get me started on yours," she told him.

"I missed you too, mum," Charlie laughed as she let go of his brother and pushed the pair towards the table.

"I thought you were never going to arrive," she said, heading around the table to where the cutlery sat in a heap. With a wave of her wand, it all slid across the table to the right places. "What held you up?"

"We decided to walk down from the apparition point," Charlie said, slipping into Ron's abandoned seat between Harry and Percy. "Just thought we'd catch up."

Bill took an empty seat facing Harry, smiling at him. "What was that about?"

"I told Ron that I wasn't going to be an Auror," Harry told him. "I thought I wanted to be one when I was younger, but I know that I don't want to be one anymore."

"He'll forget why he was annoyed tomorrow," Bill said. "Just leave him to cool off."

It was a couple of minutes before Molly brought the plates through, and everyone was eating. Ron still hadn't returned to the table, but Charlie had spotted him through the doorway, grabbing his plate from the kitchen before heading back upstairs.

After they had eaten, everyone headed into the living room.

"So how are the applications going?" Percy asked Charlie.

"Terribly," Charlie sighed. "There was no-one this year that we felt had what it takes to work with Dragons. I think the only applicants we had were those that wanted to harvest the dragons for blood or scales or other rarities, and one applicant that was terrified of dragons."

Hermione stared at him curiously for a moment. "So, what does it take to be a Dragonologist?" she asked.

Charlie turned to his youngest brother's friend and smiled at her. "You thinking of applying?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "I don't think it's right for me; I'm just curious actually." Her eyes slid in Harry's direction for a moment before she returned her gaze to Charlie.

"Sure. Well for a start, a good grade in Care Of Magical Creatures," Charlie began. "I think a liking for magical creatures is essential to doing this. Right now we're understaffed, so between you and me, we'd accept anyone who we think capable of working in the Reserve, no matter their grades."

Hermione glanced over at Harry again, who was listening to Charlie intently. Charlie followed her gaze.

"But it's an interesting job," he continued, looking between them. "I mean if either of you just wanted to come and see the Reserve, you're more than welcome."

"How about it Harry?" Hermione asked. "You've been around dragons before - you'll be out of the public eye, you'll be working with Charlie, and it's not a boring office job."

Harry hesitated.

"I could arrange for you to spend a couple of nights on the reserve so you can see what it's like there, and if you don't like it, you can come back," Charlie said.

"Sure," Harry replied. "I guess it could be exciting to work with dragons."

Charlie let out a laugh. "That's one way of putting it. You'll get a room to yourself as we haven't had anyone else that we felt suitable. You can stay up to a week, as seven days is the longest one of us can guide you before needing to return to work."

Charlie felt more optimistic. He had arrived home with the worry about the lack of applications that year, but now he had a potential Dragonologist in front of him. He was determined that Harry would see the joy of working with Dragons.

He would make sure that he was the one to show Harry around the Reserve.

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 **Chapter 1 of 3.**

 **Review Please.**

 **Word count: Exactly 5000 words.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews/follows/favourites!**

* * *

 **Thanks to Raybe and Firefly for the help, and to RedButterfly for betaing :)**

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Harry listened to Charlie talk about the Dragon Reserve. He thought back to his first year at Hogwarts when he had spent time with Hagrid and watched him try to cuddle Norbert.

"Whatever happened to Norbert?" Harry asked, interrupting Charlie's story.

Charlie grinned. "You mean you don't know? I thought Hagrid would have updated you - Norberta has recently laid her eggs. I'll take you to see her when you visit, if you want."

"Do you still have the Hungarian Horntail?" Harry asked, curiously.

"You mean Florence?" Charlie replied. "Yeah of course we do. She's still on the reserve, she's actually due to lay her eggs anytime now. Speaking of Florence, that was impressive work with her. I like how you didn't use spells to get past. We were all pleased by that.."

"Me and Hermione didn't know of any useful spells," Harry said. "It made more sense to just try and get past her, rather than attack her and make her angrier."

Charlie nodded. "That's the best way to do things. There's no need to hurt Dragons, and at the reserve we do our best to keep them safe and protected. We try to avoid using spells unless there's no other choice in the matter, or if we need to heal them or something."

"So, there isn't as much wand work involved?" Harry asked.

"Actually, it takes a lot of magic for the wards to keep the Dragons in their enclosures," Charlie said. "Plus, funding for the place comes mostly from the reserve. We have to place spells on Dragons to keep them sleeping whilst we collect them. Dragon Dung and scales that the dragons have shedded. Broken egg shells are quite valuable too. We heal injured ones, and the blood we collect at the time is useful too. There are other ingredients we take after a dragon passes - like the heart-strings which go to various wand-makers."

"It sounds like you make use of the whole dragon?" Harry commented.

"As tough as it is to lose a dragon on the reserve, we need to be realistic. If one lays eggs, that means additional dragons, which means more space, more staff and more supplies needed. We don't get grants or much funding from any Ministry, so it's all down to us."

Harry shuddered at the thought of dealing with a dead dragon.

"Don't worry, some of us prefer not to handle that side of things," Charlie said. "We wouldn't ask you to if you prefer not to handle that side of it. I choose not to do it either. So - any questions? Any idea when you'll come?"

"I could travel back with you, or do you need time to clear it with your boss?"

Charlie grinned. "I'm second in command there, and I'm allowed to make these decisions myself," he explained. "You can travel back with me, it'll be easier to change the portkey arrangements for two instead of setting up a second one."

...oOo…

"So, I was looking at my Curse-Breaker information earlier," Hermione began. "It sounds interesting. I'm not sure I want to work in an office, I'd like something active. What is it like?"

Bill smiled at her eagerness.

"It's amazing," Bill stated. "I'll admit I joined because I was at a loss on what to do, and a friend told me to try it out and I've never had any regrets. There's a lot of research and study involved… but there's also exploring and fighting and breaking curses."

"It sounds great," Hermione said.

"From what I know about you, Hermione, is that you need excitement. I mean, you're Harry's best friend - you're not looking for an office job because it's all quiet and boring. You need something that'll keep you interested. You like learning, you like researching and working out problems and puzzles, and you're quick on your feet too. If something comes up, I'd have faith that you'd know how to look after yourself - though you wouldn't deal with these things alone, you'd have a small team, or for the smaller jobs, you'd at least be assigned a partner."

"So how long is the training before someone would get started?"

"Not long," Bill stated. "Well, it wouldn't be that long for you, given your experience. You'd fly through the training."

"And what are the people there like? Who do the newbies usually get partnered with?"

Bill grinned. "My brother has had the pleasure of you by his side for… how many years has it been?" he asked. "I think I'd take you on myself."

"You?" She blushed slightly, causing his grin to widen.

"Of course, love. At least I know I'd be working with one of the most talented witches I've ever met… plus I'd be the envy of all the other guys there."

"Would you?"

"They're nice guys, but they come on a little strong. At least with me, you'll actually get to work without someone trying it on with you."

Bill watched her smile drop slightly. Was he imagining it, or did this witch have a thing for him? He hoped he was right, because she was an attractive witch - much more his type than Fleur had ever been.

"In fact, I'll even put in a recommendation for you," Bill said, his voice lowering slightly. "Applications can take months to be looked through, but with my recommendation, you'll be put to the front of the queue."

"Why? Because I'm Ron's friend?"

He shook his head. "No, because you're an amazing witch and I know you have what it takes."

Oh yes, that was a blush. He glanced around the table at his family who were chatting, before settling his gaze back on Hermione.

"I'll send off the recommendation tonight if you're interested?"

"I am," she said, eagerly. "I'll fill out the application tonight."

"Brilliant," he murmured. "Come find me, and I'll send them both off together. I must say - the thought of having such a beautiful work-partner makes me very eager to return."

He smirked to himself as the blush on her cheeks deepened. Hermione clearly fancied him. When they started working together, he'd make sure to take her out to dinner or for a romantic walk.

...oOo…

Dessert was quickly served, tearing the two eldest Weasley's away from their conversations, both satisfied with the results. For Charlie, he had found someone who would work well with the Dragons - if Harry enjoyed the visit that was. For Bill, he had found someone better suited to the position than the people they had already brought on. Curse-breaking with Hermione was going to be enjoyable.

"So, Fleur stopped over a week ago," Ginny said. "She found a few of your things at her parent's house. We stuck them in your room."

"So, we've been meaning to ask," Fred began.

"Why did you break up?"

"Boys, you can't ask Bill that, it's private," Arthur scolded them.

"It's alright dad," Bill said. "Well, it started with the attack. At first, Fleur assumed that I hadn't taken on that many wolfish qualities." He shared a look with Remus. "But over the following months and before the wedding, I talked to Remus about it, and he said that they wouldn't decrease."

"What wouldn't?" Fred asked.

"So just before the wedding, me and Fleur sat down to dinner with Remus and discussed the impact this would have on our relationship and Fleur was adamant that she wanted to marry me - that she was just nervous and still loved me."

He looked around the table, his gaze falling on Hermione briefly, before moving on.

"But then we were living together in the cottage and the war was happening around us and it was clear that Fleur didn't want to be with me. I tried working it out but I realised it was pointless, and then suddenly it hit me that I didn't feel the same for her as I thought I had."

"Veela charms?" Harry asked.

Bill shrugged. "It's possible," he admitted. "We got divorced as soon as the war was over."

"So, which wolfish things couldn't she handle?" George asked.

"The scars" Bill began. "Also the constant need to…" he trailed off, his gaze falling on his mother.

"The constant need to shag," Sirius finished, not caring who was listening. "It's a Werewolf thing; they can go for hours in the days leading to a full-moon. Bill mentioned that it's one of the things that happened to him too."

Bill blushed slightly at this.

"Wait, she left you because you wanted to shag all the time?" Ginny asked, before bursting out in laughter. "I'm sorry, but it just sounds so ridiculous!"

Bill couldn't help but join in the laughing.

"Were you that bad at it?" Sirius asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Bad?" he scoffed. "I'm amazing in bed!" He winked at Hermione. "Fleur just wasn't that interested in sex."

"Does anyone need a drink?" Molly asked, before rushing from the room without waiting for an answer.

"Maybe a change of subject in front of your mother?" Arthur suggested, as he got up to help her. The moment he was out of the room the conversation started up again.

"It's a Werewolf thing. The two days leading up to the full moon, I barely leave the bedroom. Remus is so dominating, it's bloody wonderful." He took in the raised eyebrows from the werewolf beside him. "It's always wonderful, but Remus loses control in those couple of days and there's just something about an out of control Remus that makes me want to…" he trailed off, smirking and reaching for his firewhiskey.

Remus went bright red at the words and averted his gaze.

"Dominating?" Charlie said. "Remus, that's why me and you'd never work, I like to dominate, not be dominated." He winked at Remus and laughed when Sirius growled at him. "Just joking Sirius," he added. "I'm not after Remus, so relax."

"You better not be," Sirius grumbled, watching Charlie suspiciously. "He's mine."

"As if anyone thought any different," Remus said in amusement. "Of course I am."

...oOo…

Harry sat with Hermione as she filled out a thick booklet. It took him a while to realise that it was her application for the Curse-Breaker position.

"So, it seems like this dinner sorted a lot out," he said.

Hermione nodded from her booklet.

"What is that?" Harry asked, reaching to look at it.

"My application," Hermione muttered, as she continued scribbling on the paper, her quill moving faster than Harry had ever seen it. "Bill said he'd send it off with his recommendation letter."

"You do know you could just get in by your name alone?"

Hermione shook her head and frowned. "If I just use my name, I don't deserve it," she said. "I've put a charm on this where my name won't be revealed until they approve or deny my initial application. That way, they'd be judging me on the application, my exam results and Bill's recommendation."

Harry nodded. "So you feel like you deserve it more?"

"That's right," she said, putting the quill down for a moment and running her ink-stained hand though her hair. She reached for her drink, before turning back to the application.

"Was Curse-Breaking one of your choices, or is the fact that Bill is single the reason -"

"I'll have you know that this was one of my top choices, and the fact that I'll be trained by someone I trust gives this a huge boost. It has nothing to do with how I may or may not feel about Bill Weasley." She gave him her best haughty look before looking at the paper.

"So you admit you have feelings for him?" Harry offered.

He ran from the room as Hermione reached for the nearby lamp. He knew she wasn't joking when she had a lamp nearby… after all, Hermione had good aim.

...oOo…

Harry packed a bag for a week. He wasn't sure what to bring, but had a feeling he wouldn't need his best robes. He threw in an extra pair of trainers, a few pairs of jeans and trousers and a bunch of T-shirts and jumpers. Toiletries went on top, and anything else he thought he might need went above that.

He zipped up the bag and put it over his shoulder, before heading downstairs.

Sirius was sitting at the table, looking slightly put out.

"Hey," Harry said, putting the bag on the table. "Something wrong?"

Sirius sighed, before smiling at Harry. "I'm just going to miss you."

"It's only for a week," Harry said.

Sirius shrugged. "You might like this," he admitted. "Then I'll not get to see you often."

"Well, we don't know that yet, I might hate it -"

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said. "I want you to have a job that makes you happy, I want you to be happy, Harry. I'd rather you go and be happy than you feel like you have to stick around here."

Harry hesitated.

"Plus… if Hermione takes that job, me and Remus won't feel so bad if we forget the silencing charms next time."

"I don't think you ever feel bad about that," Harry muttered. "I think it's Remus that always feels bad and you just look proud of yourself."

Sirius smirked and stood up. "Take care of yourself," he said, pulling Harry into a quick hug. "I want to know everything that happens when you get back. Come back after the week - even if you want the job, just come back for a few days so we can give you a proper send off!"

"I will," Harry promised. "I'll see you soon."

Sirius nodded, choosing to sit back down and Harry walked into the living room, to find Remus sitting on the sofa, reading one of his books.

"I thought I'd give you and Sirius a moment," Remus said, closing his book as he spotted Harry. "Good luck with this week and I hope this job is right for you. If you have doubts at all, you don't have to make your decision straight away."

"Thanks," Harry said, hugging Remus quickly. "I'm meeting Charlie in about fifteen minutes at the top of the hill from the Burrow. He said in his owl that he had said his goodbyes and headed to Bill's cottage to help him out, so he's not planning on heading back to the Burrow yet."

Remus nodded. "I look forward to hearing all about it," he said. He smiled at Harry as he stepped into the floo to the Burrow.

...oOo…

The pair arrived by portkey and it took Harry a couple of minutes to recover from the horrible sensation. Charlie waited patiently until Harry was more steady, before they began walking the rest of the way to the Reserve.

"So… you had another argument with Ron?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, he still thinks I'm abandoning him by not becoming an Auror with him," Harry sighed. "I just really don't want to be one, but I don't want to argue with him. He doesn't seem to understand that I don't want to spend any more of my life fighting. Sure, if another dark wizard rises up, I'll be one of the first back into the Order… but that's different."

"It is," Charlie agreed.

"He was angry that I suggested he'd do better without me there too," Harry said. "Ron said himself that he hates being in my shadow. Doing this without me will prevent that. I mean, I know he's just heard back about the training and I hope it goes well, but I just want him to understand why I don't want to do this."

Charlie nodded. "I understand. My brother can't expect you both to live the same life. He'll get over this soon enough." He paused and Harry stopped walking. "Here we are," Charlie said, pointing. Harry squinted.

"Can you feel the barrier?" Charlie asked. "When you feel it, just push through rather than turning away." Charlie grabbed Harry's hand to make sure the prevention charm didn't affect Harry and pulled him through.

"I'm in the wards for the place, so the barrier doesn't work on me. It obviously keeps this place hidden."

Harry's eyes darted quickly around, taking in the small buildings and the tents. He could hear the roar of Dragons in the distance and felt his excitement rise.

"Okay, let's get you checked in," Charlie said. He led the way to the nearest building and opened the door. "We're a bit short-staffed I'm afraid, so I'll do this myself." He held out a sign-in book, and Harry eyed it suspiciously.

Charlie waited, slightly confused.

"The last time we all had to sign something, Marietta Edgecomb ended up with spots across her face," Harry explained.

"Oh, this is a simple book," Charlie said. "There's a spell to keep track of who is inside the wards and who has left, in case of an emergency, we know who is still in the Reserve. The bigger spells would be on the work contract, but obviously we're not going to give that to you now since neither of us are certain about this just yet."

"Sure," Harry said, picking up the quill and writing his name in.

"Right, so for your week stay, you'll be in the visitor's cabin," Charlie said. "But if you were to take a job, you'd have to share one of the cabins. They each have two rooms, so occupied by two people. I have my own cabin, as I'm second in charge, and the boss also has a cabin."

Harry watched the quill next to the book scribble something inside. He glanced in it only to see the cabin name and number entered next to his name.

Charlie put the book back and Harry followed him through the other door.

"This is the visitors area - like if we have the Ministry over, or family visiting or something, this is where they'll be. Your cabin is just off the back of this building, separate from the staff buildings, though you'll have access to our side over the next week."

Harry glanced around the large room, before following Charlie through the back door, and seeing a small cabin.

Charlie leaned against it. "The cabin will open to your touch," he said. "I can get in because of my position here, and anyone else can if the emergency alarm is sounded. You signed the book so the cabin is tied to you during your stay."

Harry nodded, reaching out and touching the door. He walked through it as it opened.

"There are other rooms to this, but since it's just you, it's showing the master bedroom. If group turned up, it would reveal extra bedrooms."

He looked around the room in amazement. When he had heard the word 'cabin' he had pictured a small wooden cabin that looked as much like a cabin on the inside as the outside.

But this looked nothing like one. The room was done in a soft cream colour with light wooden flooring and light brown sofas. A stone fireplace stood against the far wall.

"You can firecall, or floo between cabins. Drop your bags down, I'll show you around."

Harry put his bag on the sofa and Charlie smiled at him. "Like it so far?"

"Yeah, not what I expected," Harry admitted.

"The cabins are pretty much the same," Charlie said. "But with more personal touches and stuff, since they're lived in."

The pair made their way across to the other set of buildings slightly further back.

"You have the hospital, the Rec room and the canteen," Charlie said. "We have a few House-Elves dealing with cleaning and food, and that small cabin at the end is for them."

He opened the first door and Harry glanced inside. He took in the small hospital with four beds, and a few chairs, before moving onto the canteen.

"It's basically buffet style each day," Charlie said. "Meals are around the same times as Hogwarts, but the House-Elves will be notified if someone walks in for something to eat outside these times. Sometimes if we're busy, we can't stop for meals at the specific times after all - like if we have a Dragon about to lay her eggs, or hatching eggs or an injured Dragon."

"That makes sense," Harry replied.

He pushed open the last door. "This is the Rec room. It's actually a few rooms. There's a library to the left, in the room to the right is a pool table in case you play. Awesome muggle game. We also have a games console and lots of movies and stuff in the room facing us. Everything else is in here."

Harry looked around, his gaze moving from the dartboard. He looked at the chess-board and the stereo. "There's music," Charlie continued. "There's a lot of muggle stuff as well as Wizarding… we have a few muggleborns and half-bloods here after all."

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked.

"Some are working… the few that aren't - I believe there's a Gaming tournament happening, so they are probably all in the gaming room," Charlie explained. "There's a chart up in there, whenever two people have the same time off, they can play their turn."

"Do you have prizes?"

"We all stick a couple of galleons in, it's not a massive win, but it's pretty good," Charlie said. "Depends on the game of course."

"Of course," Harry repeated.

"Come on, let's take a look in."

He strode across the room and opened the door. "Alright guys, this is Harry Potter, he's come to look around. Pretty good with Dragons."

"Alright, Harry?" One man asked, barely looking away from the screen.

"Thanks for all that You-Know-Who business," another one said.

One of the girls smiled over at him. "Sorry about them, when it comes to football games, there isn't much that'll distract them. I doubt even getting my boobs out would make them look away from more than a second."

"Mel, are you getting your boobs out? We can pause the game for that!" One of the men declared, pausing the game and turning to her expectantly.

"Now that you've paused it, why don't you greet Harry properly?" she scolded.

The pair got up from the sofa and came to shake Harry's hand. "I'm Tom," the first one said. "This is Kevin."

Harry shook both their hands.

"Anyone else off?" Charlie asked.

"Katie is in the library and I think everyone else is working," Tom said. "Good meeting you, Harry." The pair quickly returned to their game.

The pair left and Charlie gestured to the other cabins. "The second one is mine," he said. "Also - those gates lead to the Dragons. They are charmed so visitors can't get through - not even you… unless you're with someone, that is."

"Have you had many guests wander around?"

"You'll be surprised how many people think it's safe to explore the place," Charlie said. "Someone almost got into one of the enclosures, so we've set additional wards for the entrance."

Harry nodded. "Are we going in there?" he asked eagerly.

Charlie laughed. "Quite eager, aren't you?" He shook his head. "Take some time to relax and look around. I'll have to check in and see if there have been any changes to the Dragons before I work out a schedule of what to show you. Take a couple of hours… have something to eat, head to the Rec room, or head back to yours. I'll come and find you."

"Okay, great," Harry said. Charlie winked at him before shoving his hands in his pockets and strolling towards one last building that Harry hadn't seen.

He assumed it was an office of some sort, considering Charlie was getting an update on the Dragons and dealing with schedules. He watched the other man walking over so carefree and happy.

That's how he wanted to be. He headed towards the canteen for something to eat and decided to firecall Grimmauld Place once he was finished.

...oOo…

After meeting a couple of friendly House-Elves and being made a sandwich, a drink and some crisps, Harry headed back to the guest cabin. He grabbed a cushion, cast a cushioning charm on it, and knelt down.

"Sirius? Remus?"

"Harry? We were just talking about you - whether you've arrived or not."

"Hey Hermione," Harry said. "How is Sirius taking it?"

"He's sulking a bit," Hermione admitted. "How are you liking it so far? What is it like?"

"I've not seen the Dragon side of it yet, Charlie is sorting that part out. I've been shown the rest of the place and it seems pretty great."

"That's wonderful." Hermione's face lit up. "I've heard back already about the job working for Gringotts as a Curse-Breaker."

"You have?" Harry's eyes widened. "I thought Bill said it'd take a few weeks."

"It took just one. I'm going for a meeting tomorrow, and Bill owled me saying he'd be there at the meeting, so I'm feeling quite confident. If they like me, I could be starting really soon."

"Did you tell Sirius and Remus?"

"That's one of the reasons why Sirius is sulking. He's muttering about the house being all empty… then he realises that he'd have Remus all to himself and he's happy again, then he goes back to sulking."

"I prefer to call it brooding," Sirius announced, his face appearing next to Hermione.

"I'll talk to you later," Hermione said, before disappearing, leaving Harry and Sirius alone.

...oOo…

It was three hours before Charlie came to find Harry, who had found his way to the Rec room and was being taught how to play pool by Tom.

"You ready to take a look around?" Charlie asked. "We can go and see the Dragons now."

Harry nodded his head, placed the cue back against the wall and followed Charlie.

"So - are Owls allowed in?"

Charlie shook his head. "Owls land in the nearest Wizarding town and we head there every few days. If anything is marked urgent, they'll send a Patronus to let us know."

"Sounds like a good system," Harry said. "Are Owls scared of the Dragons?"

"It's both that, and the Owls flying overhead can upset the Dragons too. It's better for everyone that the Owls stay away. Tomorrow I'll show you the local Wizarding town, in case you need anything."

...oOo…

Sirius moved away from the fireplace and looked mournfully at Remus. "He sounds happy… too happy."

Remus hummed in response.

"That's it. They are both leaving us, Remus. What are we going to do?"

Remus smirked, walking into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Sirius followed behind him.

"I mean it, I don't know what we're going to do without them both in the same house. I don't like this, not one bit," he continued.

"You'll hate it even more when Hermione and Bill start dating," Remus commented.

"What?" Sirius shouted. "Hermione," he roared. "Come in here now."

"She left whilst you were talking to Harry," Remus commented. "But Bill's a good guy. You said yourself that she thinks like you do - Bill needs someone accepting."

"Are you sure she wasn't accepting in a platonic - friend only way?"

"I'm sure," Remus replied. "Didn't you hear the way she got excited when she found out Bill was single, or see them talking at dinner?"

"Yeah, but -"

"He winked at her when he said he was good in bed. Whatever conversation they were having made her blush every time I looked over at them."

Sirius looked angrier by the minute.

"Plus, she's had a crush on him since she first met him," Remus said. "Don't get involved, Sirius. I know you're protective of the younger ones, but she's old enough now. You know Bill won't mess about with Hermione. He'd be too scared of the rest of the Weasleys and us and Harry to hurt her."

"At least we don't have to worry about this with Harry," Sirius said, looking relieved. "I mean, what are the chances that Harry is actually gay?" He laughed, amused at the thought. "Charlie is an attractive bloke after all, and Harry likes the sporty ones."

"You know… Harry does like red-heads and Quidditch players, and I've never seen him check out a girl. I think he only went out with Ginny because it was expected of him, he never really felt anything more than friendship towards her."

"Wait, what are you saying?"

"Harry asked me after his breakup with Ginny, why he isn't attracted to any of these girls. I told him to relax and he'll find himself attracted to someone one day."

"Wait, are you saying Harry might be gay? And we're allowing him to move to the Dragon Reserve with Charlie bloody Weasley?" Sirius began pacing. "Are we sure that we should allow this?"

"Harry will be angry if you try to stop this," Remus said. "You need to realise that Harry's an adult and he's trying to work out his future. If he does find he likes men and set his sights on Charlie or any other guy, you're going to be happy for him."

"What if I don't like the guy?"

"Then we trust Charlie to keep an eye out," Remus said.

"I don't think I like Charlie that much either," Sirius complained.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Well, I trust Charlie. He'll look after Harry. Whether it's as friends, or if it's more."

"But Harry knows nothing about relationships and Charlie has been in loads. Are you sure about this, Remus, because -"

"You know, James had the same concerns about us," Remus interrupted. "You dated a new guy every week. He was worried you'd mess me about. Now look at us. How long have we been in love? Charlie and Bill understand how important Hermione and Harry are to all of us, and they'd never hurt them."

* * *

 **5000 words exactly.**

 **Review Please. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the last chapter. Thanks for the reviews/follows/favourites!**

* * *

 **Thanks to Raybe and Firefly for the help.**

 **Also to Firefly for both the name of the Wizarding Town and Pub.**

* * *

"I'm taking the job," Harry announced at his Welcome Home Party.

He heard congratulations from others around the room, but it was Sirius' reaction that mattered the most. Sirius was the closest he'd ever have to a father, and the closest person to his father.

Well, Remus too, but Harry wasn't worried about Remus' reaction. He knew Remus would be happy for him. It was Sirius that he was uncertain about.

"Are you sure about this?" Sirius asked.

"I loved my visit and I know what I'm getting myself into. Charlie had me doing the horrible jobs as well as well as everything else. This is what I want to do."

There was a pregnant pause, before a smile spread over Sirius' face. "I'm glad you found what you wanted to do," he told Harry. His eyes moved to Charlie for a moment. "Charlie had better make sure you don't get hurt."

Charlie looked slightly worried. "I'll do my best," he said.

Harry grinned, clearly relieved at the reaction and Sirius got up to hug him. "So, you better write and fire-call and come back as often as possible, we're going to miss you here."

"I'm going to miss you too… I'm going to miss everyone, at least I know Charlie, so it won't be so bad."

Sirius eyed up Charlie with suspicion. "Good thing," he agreed. "That way if you get hurt in any way at all, I'll know whose fault it is."

Remus walked over, resting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius turned his gaze away from Charlie and smiled in Hermione's direction. "And you're leaving for Egypt soon?"

"In two weeks," Hermione said with a wide smile. "I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about doing this."

"As long as you both are happy, I'm happy," Sirius stated. "What about you, Harry? When are you leaving?"

"I need to head back to Romania for the next couple of weeks, but I could come back for the leaving party - maybe it could be a joint one and Harry and Hermione leave on the same day?"

Sirius nodded slowly. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll talk to Molly about arranging it."

...oOo…

The two weeks had flown by. Harry's trunk was already packed, and at the Burrow, which was a closer place to the portkey. Hermione's was also there.

Molly had already gone home as it was getting late, and Sirius brought out the alcohol, turning the music up loud. Even Remus had discarded his books and was being pulled up to dance with Sirius.

Harry couldn't look at two men who were the closest thing he had to parents, rub up against each other (well, it was really Sirius attempting to rub up against Remus) on the dancefloor. But noticed a few girls, and a couple of guys making the most of the sight.

He rolled his eyes, looking around for his friends. Ron hadn't come, but Harry was hoping that there was still time to reconcile before he left. Hermione was talking to Bill, who was standing a bit too close to Hermione for his liking - he'd need to let Bill know that he had better take care of Hermione… or else.

He walked through the downstairs of Grimmauld Place, quickly spotting the man he was looking for - Charlie Weasley. "There you are," Charlie said. "I've been searching for you."

Harry grinned. "Have you?"

"Course I have," Charlie stated. "Thought you might have slipped away to spend the night with some lucky girl… or guy?"

"Nope, not slipped of anywhere," Harry said. "The only slipping off I'll be doing is with you."

Charlie grinned slowly at him. "Me?"

"Yeah… tomorrow? We're heading to the reserve tomorrow?"

Charlie snorted. "Harry, you shouldn't get my hopes up like that, it's cruel." He winked and walked away, leaving Harry slightly confused.

It took his alcohol addled brain a minute to realise what he had sounded like - but Charlie didn't seem to mind. In fact, Charlie had flirted with him.

Sort of.

Maybe.

...oOo…

The next morning however, Charlie made no indication that he remembered the previous night's conversation. He greeted Harry in the usual manner, and said goodbye to the Weasleys.

Harry began saying his goodbyes, eager to get going as Sirius had given him an hour long talk about how much he'd miss him, and Harry and Hermione were so important to him, they were his family.

And then he went on to lecture them about safe sex. With men.

Just men. Like he didn't think Harry would date a woman or something. Harry had scoffed at the thought of that. He had dated two girls. Cho and Ginny.

Sirius clearly had no idea.

He spotted Ron, hovering near the doorway, and froze.

"So… you're really going?" Ron asked, looking sad. It was better than the glares and the sullen expression, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be back to visit though."

"Good luck," Ron said.

"You too with your Auror training. You starting soon?"

"I start on Monday," Ron said. "I'll send you an owl."

Harry grinned and nodded at him, before following Charlie from the house. He was glad Ron made an effort to speak to him as he didn't really want to leave the country on bad terms.

They walked for about twenty minutes. Charlie and Bill talking together, with Harry and Hermione tagging along behind, and finally arrived at the portkey area.

It only took a minute to locate the portkeys and with a final goodbye, the four went their separate ways.

...oOo...

"This is your cabin," Charlie said, gesturing to the one facing his. "If you need anything, day or night, let me know. If you need food, you know where the canteen is."

Harry opened the door and walked inside.

"It's yours to decorate how you'd like," Charlie continued. "You're down to start tomorrow. At first, we'll have you shadowing us. We usually work in pairs or threes, and we'll continue to work in our teams, with you watching and assisting us. Once we're confident that you know what you're doing, you'll be placed with a team, rather than shadowing them."

"That sounds fine," Harry said. He put his bag down and stared around the cabin. It was smaller than the last one.

"So take the rest of the afternoon to look around and relax and get to know the layout of the place. You can't go in with the Dragons without one of us there. If you get bored, come and find me."

...oOo…

The first week was strange. It was different to the week he had already spent there. For a start, he felt more like part of the team - there was something about shovelling Dragon crap with someone that made you life-long friends apparently.

He also noticed his name on the tournament list, and a house-elf would come into his cabin to remind him of meal-times when he wasn't working.

They also only had him doing the easy jobs - dealing with some newborn Dragons. The two eggs had been found without a mother Dragon anywhere nearby. Harry was on duty to feed the Dragons and settle them in their enclosure.

"We all start with the easy stuff," Charlie explained. "You might think this is too easy, but it's something we've all had to do at some point. You'll be trading off in a week and working on something else."

Harry nodded. He was eager to learn everything the Reserve had to offer, but every-time he spoke to Charlie, he thought about the wicked smile Charlie had shot his way the night of the party.

A week of looking after baby Dragons, and Harry found himself enjoying a lay-in on one of his two days off. That was until there was a knock on the door.

He dragged himself out of bed and to the door, not caring that he hadn't pulled on a t-shirt (it was boiling after all) and found himself face to face with Charlie.

"Hey, I thought today would be a good day to show you the Wizarding Town… It's almost ten - you aren't planning on spending the day in bed?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Harry admitted with a croaky voice.

Charlie laughed as though Harry was joking. "Meet me out here in an hour and we'll get going," he said, turning and walking towards his own cabin.

Harry turned away from the door, pushing it closed in the process. He was up and awake now, so it made no sense to go back to bed… plus he was looking forward to spending the day with Charlie. So far, any time they had together was interrupted.

They walked out of the reserve and Charlie slid an arm around his waist. "Time to apparate," he said, giving Harry only a second warning before the pair of them appeared near Bucharest.

"This is the capital of Romania," Charlie began. "If you head to the Stavropoleos Monastery, the entrance is behind that." He led the way, pointing out sites to Harry, before stopping in front of the old building and leading the way around the back.

"Same as Diagon," he said, tapping the wall starting with a stone that had a star engraved into it.

The wall opened up to a set of stairs.

"After you," Charlie said, gesturing for Harry to go first.

...oOo…

Alee De Dragoni was an interesting place. It was louder and more crowded than Diagon Alley for a start. Charlie was approached twice by men asking if he had some spare Dragon Eggs, which he turned away with some sharp words. He had informed Harry that those people never gave up asking.

The pair had purchased bits they needed and Charlie had picked up the post and an order from the Healer for supplies for their own hospital before they headed into the Foc și Fangs.

"Interesting name," Harry said. "What do they mean?"

"Alee De Dragoni means Alley of the Dragons, and Foc și Fangs means Fire and Fangs. You'll find a lot of Dragon related things around here. Romania are known for the Dragons more than anything and play up to it."

They had dinner and a few drinks, and finally apparated back to the reserve, Charlie stopping at Harry's cabin door.

"We should do that more often," Charlie said.

"Yeah, it was fun," Harry agreed. "I've had a great time."

He noticed that Charlie was standing too close to him. "You're a cute drunk," he murmured, his hand reaching up and running down Harry's cheek.

Harry grinned. He wasn't as drunk as Charlie thought he was.

"Goodnight Harry," Charlie finished, leaning in. For a moment, Harry thought Charlie's lips were going to press against his own.

But they landed on his cheek.

...oOo...

Harry had been pacing for hours - a bad habit he had learnt from Sirius. For a moment the night before, he had been convinced that Charlie Weasley was about to kiss him.

He had prepared for it; he had wanted it.

But it hadn't happened.

The rest of the night had been spent wondering why he wanted to kiss another man.

By morning, Harry had accepted the fact that he wanted the kiss with Charlie much more than he wanted to kiss Ginny or Cho. In fact, he hadn't really liked kissing either of the girls.

But even the thought of Charlie kissing him sent shivers through his body. It was all he could think about throughout the night.

Sighing deeply, and realising that Sirius would be awake, Harry got on his knees by the fireplace to floo-call his Godfather.

After all, Sirius claimed to be quite popular with the boys back in school, so if anyone knew what this… infatuation with Charlie meant, it would be Sirius.

Or maybe Remus was the better choice in these matters?

"Hello? Anyone there?" Harry shouted.

It was a minute before Remus rushed into the room, his hair sticking up everywhere, and his t-shirt on backwards. "Harry? Is something wrong?"

Harry shook his head. "Actually… I wanted to speak to Sirius. I need some advice."

Remus nodded. "Just give me a minute, I'll go and get him."

He left the room before Harry could offer to call back later on when the pair were up.

It was a couple of minutes before Sirius came in and Harry briefly wondered how Sirius could have his hair looking so perfect already.

"Harry, it's six am."

"It is?" Harry asked. "I thought it was eight."

"You didn't take into account the timezones, did you?"

Harry shook his head. "Sorry Sirius, should I call back later?"

"No, it's fine. What's wrong?"

"Well… how did you know that you were gay? Or did you think you might just like -"

"I knew it," he roared, cutting Harry off. Harry stared at him in alarm. "Didn't I tell you, Remus. Charlie Weasley is trying to take advantage of Harry. Don't worry Harry, I'm on the next portkey over there, I'll -"

"Sirius, no-one has done anything," Harry shouted, drawing two sets of eyes to him as Remus came into the room. "Charlie hasn't done anything."

"So… how did you find out you were gay?" Sirius asked.

"I haven't found out I'm gay, I just think I want to kiss a guy and… wait. You think I'm gay?"

Sirius looked at Remus. "Remus thinks it."

Remus rolled his eyes at his lover. "Harry, you've never really shown interest in girls. You've dated a couple, but it seems like…" he struggled to explain himself, looking to Sirius for help.

"I dated girls too," Sirius said. "I thought I liked them and I wondered why it didn't feel amazing when I held them or kissed them. Truth or dare, and I'm told to kiss Remus - so I did. There were fireworks and I still can't put into words how it felt. I wanted that kiss to last forever."

"Maybe your best bet is just to see how things play out. If you find yourself attracted to a man - there's nothing wrong with that, after all, Charlie is a good man, and attractive."

"But he's my ex girlfriend's brother."

"And Remus dated my brother in school," Sirius admitted. "Don't let silly things like that get in the way. If you really see yourself with Charlie Weasley, then go for it. Just… be careful. Tell him if he messes you about, us Black's have hundreds of books dedicated on how to get rid of bodies without leaving a magical mark."

Harry snorted. "Thanks Remus, Sirius," he said. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Goodbye Harry," they both replied, watching his disappear from the fire.

...oOo…

Harry struggled to find a good time to talk to Charlie about what had almost happened between them… or if he had imagined the moment and Charlie didn't seem to want to bring the subject up himself.

It had been a month since he had started working there, and he was in the enclosure with Tom and Kevin, and had volunteered to be the one to collect the pieces of broken eggs from the Dragon's nest.

Tom and Kevin had put the Dragon asleep under Charlie's supervision, before Charlie left, knowing that the pair had already done this job many times. He headed towards the next enclosure to see if the next team needed any assistance.

Harry grabbed the bits of the shell, shoving them into the pouch attached to his waist whilst avoiding the baby Dragons. He waited until all the big bits were collected before pulling out his wand and using a summoning spell to collect the tinier bits of shell.

So focused on his work, he didn't see the Dragon shift in its sleep, and didn't anticipate the Dragon's tail swinging and hitting him.

...oOo…

"You two are lucky you still have your jobs," Charlie shouted, as Harry came to. His head was pounding and he could barely see. "You were supposed to stunt Edith's movements so this sort of thing wouldn't occur."

"Not their fault," Harry mumbled. "You told me not to turn my back on the Dragon when doing these things, but I wasn't thinking and that's what I did. It's not Tom or Kevin's fault that I made a mistake."

There was a long pause.

"If you want to shout at someone, you should shout at me," Harry added.

"Kevin, Tom… let's talk later," Charlie said, his voice slightly softer. Harry listened as the door opened and closed.

"Harry -"

"Where are my glasses?" Harry asked, reaching around.

It was a moment before they were placed in his hand.

"So, what happened?"

"You got hit in the head when Edith moved her tail, the baby Dragons burnt you a bit before Tom and Kevin managed to get you out."

"Oh." Harry glanced down at the bandage around his arm and stomach.

"Is that all you can say? Oh?" Charlie snapped. "I thought something terrible had happened to you, Harry. The patronus Tom sent was full of panic. I thought…" he choked on the last word, before grabbing Harry, and pressing his lips against Harry's own, before pulling away.

"Don't you ever make me feel like that again," he said. "I don't ever want to feel that scared that something bad had happened. I don't know what I'd do!"

He stormed out, leaving a breathless Harry gaping after him. That kiss was more than worth being knocked out by a Dragon.

...oOo…

Harry could see immediately by the way Hermione was glancing at Bill, that things were happening between them. The pair had made their way to Romania, hearing about some tombs about twenty miles from Harry and Charlie's location, and had offered to talk to the locals about them.

Instead of setting up their own camp, Charlie had invited them to stay in the guest quarters at the Dragon Reserve, since it was only going to be for a few nights.

When Bill had headed to the Rec room to sit with Charlie, Harry had headed over to the cabin to find Hermione.

"So… how did it happen?"

"Well," Hermione began. "We triggered a curse by mistake. It was quite well hidden you see, and it was a new type that didn't show up through our spells, and a mummy was heading towards us, but it almost had Bill and he didn't notice. I managed to shoot the spells required to take the mummy down, and disable it, before Bill could even turn around. He thanked me by pushing me up against the wall." She smiled dreamily.

Harry nodded. "He's treating you alright?"

"Perfectly," Hermione said. "Maybe a little too perfectly. I'm just trying to get him to be like he was that first kiss, now he's all gentle and sweet and trying not to move too fast, but I just want him to lose control and… you don't want to hear the rest."

Harry laughed. "So… uh. Charlie kissed me." He waited for Hermione to freak out, but she sat still, sipping from her tea.

"Did you like it?"

"It was… perfect."

"But…" Hermione pushed, setting the cup down.

"Okay. I was injured, nothing serious. But Charlie was panicking saying I shouldn't scare him like that and he kissed me. I really like him. I've never felt… I know I don't like girls, I realised that, I've come to terms with it - I just don't know what to do next."

"Is this the first kiss?"

"There has been a lot of flirting and a previous 'moment' that had an almost kiss."

Hermione shrugged. "I'll be honest - I don't really know much about relationships myself," she admitted. "But it sounds like Charlie is having a hard time staying away from you if there was a moment between you two before. I doubt he would just kiss you like that if it meant nothing, so I'd say either wait it out and take a chance, or just go for it."

"Go for it?"

Hermione grinned and nodded. "Put on some sexy underwear and lay across his bed?"

Harry started laughing, throwing a cushion at her. "Please don't tell me you do that for Bill." He stopped laughing as she opened her mouth. "Don't answer that, I don't want to know!"

After Harry returned to his own cabin, he had a lot to think about.

...oOo…

He had checked the schedules just to make sure Charlie wasn't working that night. He had also checked to make sure Charlie was out of his room - it was Charlie's night to be part of the tournament and he had seen Charlie in the rec room, playing Fifa.

He convinced one of the house-elves to let him into Charlie's rooms, and settled on the bed.

He hadn't even been in there for half an hour when he heard the door open and close, and minutes later, Charlie walked in, pulling his t-shirt over his head.

When the t-shirt was gone, his eyes fell on Harry.

"Harry? What are you doing here?"

Harry suddenly felt shy. "I'm here because you're not going to say anything or make any sort of move, so I decided that I should be the one to do so."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"I like you, and I think you like me too, otherwise you wouldn't have kissed me."

Charlie stayed silent.

"I don't know what's holding you back. Is it because we work together? Because I used to date your sister? Because I'm younger than you?" Harry asked. "Because none of that matters to me. I like you Charlie."

"It's because I don't want to take advantage of you," Charlie blurted out. "Because until now, I thought you only liked women and didn't want to make things awkward… but here you are in my bed and every reason I've told myself for staying away from you doesn't seem to matter anymore."

He strode to the end of the bed. "Do you fancy me?"

Harry nodded.

"And there is no chance at all that you'd get back with -"

"I'm gay," Harry said. "I'm not getting back with any of my ex's. I want to get with you."

Charlie dropped his t-shirt on the floor, lifting a knee onto the bed. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice husky.

"More sure about this than anything," Harry insisted, his heart pounding as Charlie shuffled up the bed.

"And this isn't just a one-time thing?" Charlie asked, infuriating Harry.

"Definately not," Harry snapped. "Now are you going to come over here or not?"

Charlie laughed, closing the distance between them quickly. "So… what do you want?"

"You. I want you to do everything to me."

Charlie's eyebrows raised. "Everything?"

Harry took a deep breath and began to nod, but fingers wound around the back of his head, pulling it towards Charlie, and lips eagerly claimed his.

Before he knew it, he was pushed gently back onto the bed, Charlie's hands moving across his body, under his clothes.

This had to be the best decision he had ever made.

...oOo…

Harry lay in the bed, his body aching. There hadn't been an inch that Charlie hadn't touched over that night.

He felt amazing, though he wasn't sure what happened next. Did they just stay in bed? Should he get up and shower?

Did he want to remove himself from Charlie's tight grip?

He tried to, thinking he could take a shower, but Charlie pulled him back into the bed.

"Do you really think I'm done with you?" he asked, sleepily. His fingers skimmed down Harry's body, searching.

"Aren't we supposed to go back to the Burrow?" Harry asked, his breath catching as Charlie's hand found his erection.

"Let me take care of that for you," Charlie murmured. "We still have hours."

"Charlie… can I ask what this is? This between us?"

"It's the start of our relationship," Charlie murmured against his shoulder. "If you want a relationship with me."

Harry nodded. "I do," he whispered.

...oOo…

"Right, so we should tell Ginny first," Charlie said, looking guilty as they walked up the path to the Burrow. "We tell Ginny that you're gay and that we're together."

Harry nodded, though he couldn't think of anything scarier (except Hermione with a lamp). He wasn't looking forward to telling his ex-girlfriend that he was dating her brother.

But it had to be done… even if they had been dating for a total of 19 hours.

Charlie knocked on the door, before pushing it open and walking inside, where Molly threw her arms around him.

"I thought you were going to arrive earlier," she cried. "I was wondering where you both were." She let go of her son and pulled Harry into a tight hug. "Harry, has Charlie been looking after you?"

Charlie raised his eyebrows in question, and Harry glared at him over Molly's shoulder. "Yes, he has," he replied, and she let go.

"Bill and Hermione arrived ages ago," she said. "They are in the living room. I'll be serving dinner in a few minutes," Molly said. "Can you shout up to Ginny?"

"I wanted to talk to Ginny about something," Harry said, with a glance at Charlie. "So we can go up and let her know."

Molly stared at him hopefully, as he turned and headed upstairs, Charlie trailing after him.

...oOo…

Harry knocked on the door and waited for an answer. It was only a minute before Ginny answered.

"Harry?" she said, smiling at him. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Harry replied. "Look, Ginny, I really need to talk to you about something."

A hopeful expression crossed her face until she noticed Charlie standing next to him.

"You need to tell me, or you and Charlie need to tell me?" Ginny asked, her expression quickly turning stony.

"Uh… a bit of both?" Harry replied.

"I don't want to hear it." She slammed the door.

"Harry, go downstairs," Charlie asked. Harry nodded, not certain how to deal with Ginny but glad she hadn't hit him with a hex, and headed down.

"Ginny, I'm sorry, I can't help that I fell in love with him," he heard as he walked down the stairs.

...oOo…

Dinner was a quiet event. Charlie hadn't mentioned their relationship, and Harry wasn't sure if he should say something. He ignored the questioning looks from Sirius and Remus and from Hermione.

Instead he kept his gaze on his food, not certain where to look. Ginny was sitting facing him, glaring at him. Molly had been trying to make conversation, engaging Hermione in discussion about her work as a Curse-Breaker.

"Harry," Molly said, breaking the silence. "Now, I've been to Romania myself for a few nights and I must say that the visitor's cabin is wonderful. I imagine that's where you stayed when you visited?"

"I did, it's very comfortable," Harry agreed.

"Now, is your cabin the same as the visitors ones? Is it comfortable enough, because I can give you some things -"

"Maybe," Ginny interrupted loudly. "Maybe you should be asking Harry if Charlie's cabin is comfortable. I doubt he's even seen the inside of his own."

"Oh, Charlie explained to me that Harry would have his own cabin unless someone new started," Molly began.

"It doesn't mean he's sleeping in it, I believe he finds Charlie's bed much more comfortable," Ginny snapped.

There was complete silence in the room.

"Darling, you must be mistaken," Molly began.

"She's not," Charlie stated, looking around. "Not really how we planned to tell you, but me and Harry are… together." He cleared his throat. "Me and Harry officially started dating yesterday, so Harry doesn't know very much about my cabin, just as I don't know much about his. I did talk to Ginny when I went upstairs earlier, but she closed the door on Harry and ignored everything I explained to her."

"You stole my boyfriend," she hissed.

"Your gay boyfriend," George corrected her.

"Don't you mean her gay ex-boyfriend," Fred added.

The pair exchanged amused looks.

"What is going on? Both you and Hermione go and work in other countries and then you both start shagging my brothers."

"Bill?" Molly said, spinning around to look at him. "I'm so happy for you both, Hermione is a lovely Witch -"

"And are you happy for us?" Charlie asked, reaching for Harry's hand.

"Of course," Molly said, turning back. "I've always seen Harry as one of my own and -"

"Wait. So everyone is happy with everything?" Ron asked in disbelief. "No-one is going to say anything? Bill knew that I liked Hermione and Charlie knew that Ginny still wanted to be with Harry. But they've gone behind our backs and -"

"Ron, maybe we should go and talk -" Bill started, pushing back from his chair.

"No," Ron shouted. "This is ridiculous. I challenge you to a Wizard's duel."

Harry and stared in disbelief as the Weasley family excluding the parents began to bicker. Sirius hadn't said a word, but he was watching the events as though Christmas had come early.

Remus started talking to Hermione in the next seat about her time in Egypt, and Harry just grabbed his plate and headed into the kitchen after Molly and Arthur.

The three stood next to the counter and finished their dinner in peace.

"We are very happy for you, of course," Molly insisted, taking the empty plates and putting them into the sink. "And for Charlie, Bill and Hermione too. It's just best when the kids get like that... "

"Just to leave them to it, and let them get this out of their systems" Arthur finished, just as Hermione and Remus rushed into the Kitchen, trying to avoid being hit by one of the stray hexes that were being thrown around the room..

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, looking towards the doorway.

"Who do you think threw the first spell?" Remus deadpanned.

* * *

 **5000 words exactly.**

 **Review Please. :)**

 **This is the end. It seemed a good way for it to finish! I hope you all enjoyed this story. :)**


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